Research shows that parents can be a key influence on their children’s decision not to smoke or use other tobacco products.
Research has also shown that parents who communicate regularly with their children in general, and who talk with them about not smoking in particular, can decrease the likelihood that their children will smoke.
1 Our Youth Tobacco Prevention (YTP) department's parent communications are primarily focused on:
- helping parents understand their important influence and encouraging them to talk to their kids about not smoking or using other tobacco products
- providing resources that can help parents raise kids who don't smoke or use other tobacco products
To help and encourage parents to effectively talk with their children about not smoking or using other tobacco products and avoiding other risky behaviors, the YTP department has created the following resources in conjunction with an
advisory board of parenting and child development experts:

The online English and Spanish Parent Resource Centers provide information and activities to help parents raise kids who don't smoke or use other tobacco products. To help raise awareness of this resource, the YTP department places online ads on websites that are popular among parents.
Learn more about research related to the Parent Resource Center
.
The
Raising kids who don’t smoke parent resource series is designed to provide parents with advice on talking to their kids about not smoking or using other tobacco products. Since youth smoking is a complex issue, our parent resources also address many factors that might influence kids to smoke or use other tobacco products, like peer pressure.
Learn more about research related to the
Raising Kids Who Don’t Smoke parent resource series.

Additionally, from 1999 - 2006, the YTP department developed and aired parent-directed advertising with the message “Talk to your kids about not smoking. They’ll Listen.” We believe this campaign has made a meaningful difference in helping parents understand their influence and encouraging them to talk to their kids about not smoking.
Learn more about the
Talk. They’ll Listen. campaign.
Learn more about research on the
Talk. They’ll Listen. campaign.
Learn more about research related to the
Talk. They'll Listen. campaign.